What we do

Creative Youth Network helps young people, no matter what their background or circumstances, to reach their own potential.

All of our young people are experiencing barriers that are preventing them from flourishing. Many of our young people are marginalised, unemployed, not in education, suffer poor mental health, are in care (or are care leavers), are asylum seekers, refugees, disabled, from low income households or are an ethnic minority.

We work to help young people remove or overcome the barriers young people face by:

Building trusting relationships with young people that enable us to address their individual needs

Advocating for young people to influence policy and get young voices heard

Providing a wide range of programmes and activities to help young people reach their potential

Creative Youth Network has helped me find my voice and figure out what I want to do. I’ve made so many friends here and I can see how I’ve become much more confident.

Our Impact

In 2016 we worked with 3437 young people – an increase of 11% from 2015. Many of these young people are marginalised: Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME), lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ), unemployed, not in education, suffering poor mental health, are in care (or are care leavers), are asylum seekers, refugees, or are disabled.

Find out more about Our Impact

Youth Centres

Our four youth centres (The Station, Hillfields, The Stokes, Hanham) are safe and creative spaces for young people to hang out, explore their interests and build positive relationships, filling the gap between school and home.

Young people at all our Centres are supported by our youth workers in organising their own events. Cooking, DJing, arts activities, discussions or debates - activities are all planned to encourage and empower each young person to find their voice and reach their potential.

I’ve started coming to the Stokes when I moved here and didn’t have much to do. I wasn’t feeling very well and mum convinced me to give it a shot. It’s a nice place and I like what we do here, it keeps me busy.

Advice and support

We offer advice and support to young people no matter what their situation and background.

Our youth workers build positive relationships with young people to help them navigate difficult situations. No problem is too big or too small when we tackle it together, whether it's mental health, housing, family breakdowns or struggles at school.

I’m much happier with my life now I have a one-to-one worker. I was feeling very lonely and confused and the group I was in wasn’t helping, pressuring me into doing things I didn’t want to. It’s been so helpful to talk to someone outside my family who listens to me. She’s helped me to be more confident and to make new friends.

Creative Courses

The ups and downs in life can be complicated and difficult to express, but we believe everyone can find their voice through creativity.

Our creative courses empower young people to find their own artistic vision, and give them the tools and networks to develop their creativity.

The hands-on approach helps young people to build confidence and healthy relationships in an environment where sharing emotions is safe, and equips them with the skills and experience to turn their creative passions into professional success.

Being on the creative careers course helped me to pursue my passion in dance and facilitating. I was given the opportunity to plan out and deliver my own dance sessions with children and gained great experience from it. At the end of it all I became more confident in what I love and was able to find connections with other facilitators to create more dance sessions.

Alternative education and Careers advice

Sometimes the traditional education system just doesn't work. We are there to catch those young people who slip through the net at school, with our complimentary education programme for secondary schools.

By providing an alternative route to arts qualifications, we help those at risk of dropping out to stay engaged, focused and able to fulfil their potential.

We also offer one-to-one careers advice and courses for young people aged 16-25 who are not in education, employment or training. Our job coaches help these young people to identify problems, develop skills and find a route into a career they want.

Latest

Keeping vulnerable people safe is part of our daily roles. Kate Gough, our Youth Services Director, talks about how we ensure our safeguarding policy is backed up by our organisational culture and transparency.

Creative Youth Network is a registered charity based in Bristol, in the South West of England. We are youth workers, professional artists, freelancers, volunteers and campaigners. We help all young people to reach their potential and live fulfilling lives, by building secure, positive relationships with them based on the unique needs of each person.

Applications are now closed. We're looking to recruit a worker who has experience of supporting young people who are offenders or at risk of offending. You will be flexible, driven, compassionate and highly skilled.